Mediagazer: TKO Group CEO Ari Emanuel's pay package for 2024 was $18.1M, down from $64.9M in 2023, while President Mark Shapiro's compensation nearly doubled to $32M (Todd Spangler/Variety)

5:20 AM ET, April 26, 2025

Top News:

Internal memo: AG Pam Bondi rescinds Merrick Garland's policy restricting most subpoenas for journalists, “to identify and punish the source of improper leaks” — Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an internal memo obtained by Axios that the Justice Department is rescinding …

Gabe Kaminsky / The Free Press:

Leaked letter: interim US Attorney for DC Ed Martin accused Wikipedia of allowing foreign manipulation and propaganda, threatening its tax-exempt status — In a letter obtained by The Free Press, Trump appointee Ed Martin accuses the Wikimedia Foundation of violating the law.

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Teddy Rosenbluth / New York Times:

US Attorney Ed Martin sent a letter to New England Journal of Medicine, similar to three other journals, saying it's biased and influenced by external pressure — The New England Journal of Medicine received a letter suggesting that it was biased and compromised by external pressure.

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Todd Spangler / Variety:

SEC filing: Bob Bakish's severance compensation was worth $69.3M after his exit as Paramount CEO in April 2024, and his 2024 compensation totaled $86.96M — 2024 pay packages for George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy Brian Robbins each included $6 million bonuses for their co-CEO roles

Discussion: Bloomberg, Deadline, @tvgrimreaper, The Wrap, @lucas_shaw, @theinsneider and The Hollywood Reporter

Ted Johnson / Deadline:

Q&A with WHCA President Eugene Daniels on this year's annual dinner, White House press pool changes, the press corps' response to attacks, and more — This year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner will be focused on “journalists and journalism” and in a departure from the past …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Megyn Kelly, Deseret News, Alternet.org, The Jim Acosta Show, The Contrarian, The Hill, HuffPost, NH Journal and Status

Lachlan Cartwright / Politico:

A look at the future of MSNBC under Mark Lazarus and Rebecca Kutler once it's spun off from NBC; MSNBC must fill 100 roles to build out newsgathering operations — What becomes of every liberal's favorite TV network once it loses its connection to NBC? — Inside 30 Rock …

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Todd Spangler / Variety:

TKO Group CEO Ari Emanuel's pay package for 2024 was $18.1M, down from $64.9M in 2023, while President Mark Shapiro's compensation nearly doubled to $32M — TKO Group, the parent of WWE and UFC, disclosed the pay of its top executives — with Ari Emanuel, who serves as executive chair and CEO …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, The Wrap and Deadline

Bloomberg:

Sources: Tencent Music is in advanced talks to buy Chinese podcasting startup Ximalaya in a $2.4B deal — An agreement could be reached as soon as the coming weeks, the people said. — Talks are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, the people said.

Discussion: Digital Music News, @jenniferxie12, Music Business Worldwide and Reuters

Etan Vlessing / The Hollywood Reporter:

Charter Communications lost 181K pay TV subscribers in Q1 vs. a decline of 405K in Q1 2024; it had 12.7M pay TV subscribers as of March 31 — The cable giant shed less video customers than last year as overall revenue edge up slightly to $13.67 billion. — Cable and broadband giant Charter …

Discussion: StreamTV Insider, @tvgrimreaper, TVNewsCheck, The Desk, MediaPost, Benzinga, The Wrap, Advanced Television, Reuters and Yahoo Finance

Mark Stenberg / Adweek:

Vevo unveils Vevo Evolve, a suite of ad products designed to simplify the planning, measurement, and activation processes for advertisers across CTV and YouTube — Evolve lets marketers plan, measure, and activate across CTV, and YouTube — The music video network Vevo is launching …

Discussion: Vevo, Digital Music News, @markstenberg3, @markstenberg3 and Music Ally

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:

British insurance tycoon and Prospect magazine owner Clive Cowdery takes a minority stake in Tortoise; the Scott Trust has a 9% stake after committing £5M — The 234-year-old Sunday newspaper will produce its first edition under new ownership this weekend

Discussion: The Times

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Alphabet says it surpassed 270M paid subscriptions, driven by YouTube and Google One, and reports YouTube Q1 ad revenue up 10.3% YoY to $8.93B, vs. $8.97B est. — YouTube continues to rake in money from advertisers worldwide, with the video giant's ad revenue reaching $8.93 billion …

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Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
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Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
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Sources: Paramount has begun talks with the FCC on the necessary steps to gain approval for its Skydance merger, including concessions on its diversity policies

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From Techmeme:

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